A group of Tuscaloosa activists are providing financial support for those seeking abortion care in Alabama.

The Yellowhammer Fund has been accepting donations for about a year and has aided 15 individuals since it started providing assistance on Jan. 1 of this year. Co-founder Amanda Reyes said she and her colleagues created the fund to ensure patients have access to clinics. Although the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 affirmed a woman's right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, Reyes said there are legislative and social barriers in place that limits access.

"Legality without access is meaningless," Reyes said. "Legislators have made abortion inaccessible practically and financially to the point that Roe v. Wade doesn't matter."

Reyes said she saw the barriers herself while studying reproductive justice at the University of Alabama in a pro-life state.

In 2001, Alabama used to be the home of 12 clinics. But seven have closed over the past 16 years. The remaining five clinics are located in some of the state's largest cities: Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile and Tuscaloosa.

The West Alabama Women's Clinic in Tuscaloosa and the Alabama Women's Center in Huntsville were at risk of closing after state legislators passed a law in 2016 prohibiting the license renewal of an abortion clinic within 2,000 feet of a K-8 public school. At the same time, state lawmakers also passed legislation banning abortion through dilation and evacuation, which is the most commonly used second-trimester procedure. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson declared both laws unconstitutional in October 2017.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan criticized Sen. Doug Jones on Monday after he voted against a national bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks.

"It is disgraceful that Senator Jones, who claims to want to 'give voice to the challenges that face so many of our most vulnerable Americans' would refuse to be a voice for the most vulnerable of them all: innocent lives in the womb," Lathan said in a statement. "As one of the strongest pro-life states in the nation, Alabamians will hold Senator Jones accountable for this vote and every move he makes in the future regarding legislation that supports life at all stages."

Reyes started to see the need for a fund in 2015 after creating the West Alabama Clinic Defenders, an organization that provides volunteers who escort clients as they walk into the Tuscaloosa clinic. Reyes said the escorts not only provided security from people who protest at the clinic, but also console clients from protestors' statements.

"That is a huge barrier," Reyes said. "I've seen people too scared to get out of their cars and kind of circle around the parking lot several times to try to avoid the protestors."

Due to the Hyde Amendment, a federal law that came into effect four years after Roe v. Wade, federal funds cannot be used for abortions unless the pregnancy is a result of rape, incest, or endangers the woman's health. Only 17 states allow state funds for abortions for reasons not stated in the Hyde Amendment, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation. Alabama is not one of the states.

Reyes said the majority of the clients who are on Medicaid struggled to pay for a medical procedure that could cost between $450 to more than $1,400 depending on the length of pregnancy. That amount doesn't include lodging and travel expenses. Reyes said she's met patients who are from Mississippi, which only has one abortion clinic, and the Florida panhandle.

That's one of the reasons why the Yellowhammer Fund doesn't limit who receives the funds as long as they are receiving services at the state's three independently owned clinics: Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery and the clinics located in Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. Reyes said they plan to expand to the other two Planned Parenthood clinics in Birmingham and Mobile in the future.

"We do that because we realize that many people live very far away from a majority of the clinics where they can have a procedure done," Reyes said. "For some folks, one of the Alabama clinics might be their closest option."

"We would like for (the Yellowhammer Fund) to know that it's very clear that abortion is the killing of a human being and it is not acceptable," Henderson said. "We will do things by any Christian, legal, peaceful means possible to shut them down and we have been very successful at shutting people down."

The Yellowhammer Fund is currently giving out $350 in financial assistance weekly. That amount could increase depending on donations.

When a potential patient calls the fund's number and leaves a message, a volunteer caseworker calls the client back to determine how much they can contribute to the procedure and how far along they are in their pregnancy. That information determines how much financial support a client will receive. The most they have given a patient so far this year is $250.

Since the fund can only pay a portion of what the client cannot, it will then connect the patient to other organizations throughout the U.S. that provide the same service. The Yellowhammer Fund is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds, which is a coalition of about 70 organizations.

Reyes said she cried when they gave money to their first client a few weeks ago.

"It was amazing to see how the support of several donors throughout Alabama came together to make these resources available to those in need," Reyes said.

Providing financial support isn't the only way the fund tries to break down barriers, Reyes said. Fund officials plan to launch a series of open conversations about abortion throughout February to combat what they say are misconceptions about the procedure. During the special election for U.S. Senate last year, "late-term abortions", or abortions occurring after 20 weeks of pregnancy, became an integral of then-Republican candidate Roy Moore's campaign after Jones made a statement supporting a woman's right to choose.

The state law prohibits abortions after 20 weeks unless the pregnancy endangers the health of the mother. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, three out of 6,642 abortions performed in the state in 2016 occurred after the 20-week cutoff and all of those were performed in hospitals. Most of Alabama's abortions took place during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, the department reported.

Reyes said health endangerment is one of the reasons why clients in their second-trimester seek an abortion. Other reasons include situations out of their control, such as car accidents or loss of a job, she said.

"Everything could have been fine the first-trimester. But then they lose a job and they don't have a way to provide for the baby," Reyes said. "To punish people for things that are out of their control is nonsensical. It only creates a situation where people who were already in a difficult place desperate. When people are desperate, they do things that may compromise their health, like going to someone who isn't the best healthcare provider."

Although Thompson ruled the two abortion laws unconstitutional last year, another anti-abortion measure will be on the ballot during the general election in November. House Bill 98 recognizes the right to life of the unborn and that nothing in the state Constitution provides the right to abortion. It will not have a direct impact unless Roe v. Wade is overturned.

But Reyes said a Supreme Court reversal could send the country back to the days of the Jane Collective, the nickname given to the secret, medical underground in Chicago comprised of mostly self-taught abortionists.

"The people with the wealth privilege will have the best access to even these underground places," Reyes said. "That is not ideal because people who are the most vulnerable will slip through the cracks, and that will create a healthcare crisis in the U.S."

Henderson believes the Roe v. Wade decision will be overturned eventually. As the current supreme court justices begin to retire, Henderson is confident President Donald Trump's replacement will be more conservative. When that happens, he said pro-life activists next stop will be the police departments for warrants on those running the abortion clinics since Alabama never repealed its law that made abortion a criminal act.

"Roe v. Wade is a bunch of nonsense and it's going to evaporate within the next year or two," Henderson said. "We are going to be ready the next day and make sure that the abortion clinics are closed and that the medical professionals are arrested and they will serve a year in jail."

A Pew Research Center survey shows the majority of adult Alabamians believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. But when Reyes' group started fundraising in January 2017, they collected about $20,000 in five months. She remembers the surge of support on social media and comments from those who thought the fund's name was confusing because it's similar to the name of the conservative media website, Yellowhammer News.

Reyes said she doesn't mind the comparison in titles.

"I kind of like it because we are taking it back," she said. "People have a very bad view of Alabama. We saw this during the last (senate) election. By aligning ourselves with the state bird, we are saying we are Alabamians, too. We don't support the regressive policies. We don't support anti-abortion laws. These aren't the only people who live in Alabama."